


Pierce and the Clone Project

by potofsoup



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 02:37:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2530877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potofsoup/pseuds/potofsoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander Pierce deals with the Winter Soldier by creating a loyal handler.</p><p>(Otherwise known as Pierce is a manipulative little shit.)</p><p>Inspired by <a href="http://karaii.tumblr.com">karaii</a>'s <a href="http://karaii.tumblr.com/tagged/catws%3A-clone-au">Hydra Steve Clones</a>.  All artwork here belongs to karaii.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hydra Steve Clones AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/80624) by karaii. 



> I don't know how to tag for emotional manipulation and consensual off-screen bodily harm, so... be warned.

"So this is why I’m at level alpha clearance?" Alexander Pierce stared at the man through the observation mirror. He’d hoped it was his dedication to the cause, or the way he handled the incident in Nicaragua. Not this. He’s not just some asset to be used to handle a malfunctioning weapon. 

"He only responds to … very specific visual and audio stimuli." Though a shrivel of a man in a wheelchair beside him, Director Zola’s voice crackled through all the speakers around the room. "I did not choose you just for your blond hair, Agent Pierce. Demeanor has proven to be important."

"And what happens when I get too old?" Alexander carefully directed his gaze back at the Winter Soldier. He already knew the answer: HYDRA loved redundancies. But at this juncture, he needed Zola to think him a fool for asking. "Why go through the trouble of finding and training the right handler," he paused, waiting for Zola’s raised eyebrow while carefully weighing his next words to make sure they come out effortless, "when you can use Steve Rogers?"

Now he turned to face Zola, allowing himself to take in the old man’s hunger and curiosity and trepidation. “They still have vials of his blood in New Mexico.” He was still careful not to smile, not yet. “I can get you some, and you can create a dozen Steve Rogers.”

"But to create Captain America… to *control* Captain America…" Zola’s voice, thin and blubbering, coming out disjointed from the speakers.

"He’ll just be a sick kid with the right hair and the right demeanor. HYDRA will teach him order." Alexander smiled, deferentially. This was easier than expected. "If you want, I can take charge of this project."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: ends with an image of graphic violence

"Thank you, you may leave now." The nine-year-old runt got up and stomped out of the room. Alexander gave himself a moment before calling in the next one. Two things the history books and comic books didn’t cover about Steve Rogers, which Pierce has now had far too much experience with: how incredibly sickly he was, and how incredibly stubborn he was. Alexander sometimes wondered how Steve Rogers managed to survive to adulthood. As it was, he had started with ten, and three had died of pneumonia in the first three years. Another two didn’t survive the basic fitness training. But the bigger problem is the stubbornness. When it was apparent in the first pneumonia outbreak that the Steves had started bonding with each other, Alexander ordered them separated and taught in isolation. When the Steves started asking questions about the content they were learning, Alexander ordered a suite of HYDRA’s best reinforcement strategies . Even so, managing them has been like herding cats. 

Alexander needed a dog.

Zola has developed a serum that might boost his ailing health, but he needed a test subject, and Alexander had managed to snatch that honor for one of his clones. Zola had simply expected him to choose a random clone, but Alexander had bigger plans. This was a chance for him to make a statement, show that he’s more than a babysitter, that he had what it takes to move beyond alpha level clearance. Alexander was going to put on a show tomorrow at the ceremony.

And for that, he needed a guaranteed result. He needed to find a loyal dog amongst these five ornery cats.

The next boy shuffled in and sat down across from Alexander. He looked sullen, just like the others, and the conversation started much the same way.

"Can you tell me why are you here?"

"I don’t know. You’re the one who called me here." Defiant.

"Tomorrow, you will be asked to kill some people. Will you be able to do that?" 

Eyes narrowed. “Depends. Who are they? What did they do?”

Alexander sighed. “Why does that matter? What if they’re going to kill you if you don’t kill them?” This conversation was going exactly like the other three: not how he wanted.

The boy considered this, and then said resolutely, “I always have a choice, don’t I? Maybe it’s better to let them kill me. I don’t know them. Maybe they deserve to live more than I do.” The boy looked like he’d given the value of his own life some thought. Alexander poured himself a glass of milk and was about to dismiss the boy like the others. Then he thought better of it and slid the glass to the boy. The boy eyed it with suspicion.

"Here, drink up." Alexander said in his softest, kindest tone.

The boy picked up the glass and started drinking, and Alexander gave the boy time to realize that this was truly a gift, with no strings attached. The defiant expression softened.

"You’re right. You always have a choice, and other people’s lives matter." Alexander looked into the boy’s eyes, then down at his own hands. People tended to listen closer when they think you’re not talking to them. "This is what we do here at HYDRA: we care about other people. We bring order and peace. We save people, often from themselves." The boy put down the empty milk glass and Pierce caught his eye and whispered fervently, "I believe that with every part of my being." The boy, wide-eyed, nodded.

"Tomorrow, the people I will ask you to kill do *not* believe that. They are individuals determined to bring chaos. I want to bring them down, and I need your help." The boy bit his lip, his eyes clouded and confused.

"I know you might not believe in HYDRA’s mission yet, and it’s true that you won’t know who your opponents are and what they’ve done. But you know me." Alexander smiled, tenderly. "You have a choice tomorrow, and I hope you choose to stand with me." The boy nodded dumbly. Alexander got up and walked the boy to the door, hand on his thin shoulder. "I hope you rest well, kid."

Alexander sat back, pleased with himself for once. He’d forgotten that to create a loyal dog, he needed to give the pup someone to be loyal to. Tomorrow is going to be a great show. He briefly contemplated dismissing the last of the five, but then he remembered the importance of redundancy. Besides, it’d make the show even better to have two hounds fight for him.

Before calling in the last boy, however, Alexander gave himself a moment to imagine the looks on everyone’s faces when he sets the five boys in an room and orders them to kill each other. Order through pain. The triumph of HYDRA acted out by the bodies of Steve Rogers, Captain America. Finally, the higher-ups will appreciate his vision.

(karaii's image of clone!Steve carnage, original img post [here](http://iadot.tumblr.com/post/96483646943/so-following-the-clone-au-idea-proposed-by-the))


	3. Chapter 3

Alexander didn’t remember precisely which of the five Steves survived the slaughter. It never really mattered. He did remember the look of trust and resolve on the kid’s face when he finished killing the others and stumbled over, left arm dislocated and broken ribs bruising purple, and handed him the bloodied knife. He did remember the looks of fascination and disgust and fear and admiration on the faces of the other HYDRA observers. He did remember Zola’s magnanimous smile when he waved over the coffin-like machine used for the serum injection process. 

He probably knelt down and said some kind encouraging words to the kid, maybe even held the kid’s hand as the technicians strapped him into the machine. Reminded the kid about “order through pain” when he screamed too much. That sounded like something he’d do, but that didn’t really matter either. What *did* matter, was that the same bloody scrawny kid fell out of the machine when it opened. He remembered the looks of disappointment on everyone’s faces when it looked like the serum didn’t take. He remembered the tightness of his fist as he drew back to punch the kid for failing him. He remembered Zola leaving in his wheelchair without a second glance. 

The kid might have said “I’m sorry,” as Alexander signaled for the lab technicians to take the boy away, but that didn’t matter, either. He was already planning his comeback. Alexander refused to be written off as a failed HYDRA investment.

————————-

It turned out that the serum did work, albeit in an odd way. The kid healed from his wounds within a few days. He breathed better. He could see color, sort of. He didn’t get sick when they introduced” pneumonia and smallpox into the room. But he stayed small and scrawny. His back was still bent, his bones, still fragile. Maybe this was salvageable after all.

Alexander decided to pay the kid a visit.

The boy refused to look at him. 

"Congratulations, kid." Alexander sat down at the edge of the bed, jovial but careful not to touch him. "You are the only person to get the serum." 

The boy didn’t respond, so he tried a different tactic. “I’m sorry I punched you.” And it was mostly true — Alexander did feel bad about it afterward. He didn’t like it when he loses control of his emotions. “I was … upset. Dr. Zola promised that the serum would make you bigger, stronger, not sick anymore.” “I fought so hard to get that serum for you, and you fought so hard to earn it. So when you stayed small and sick…. I’m sorry.” The boy’s shoulders loosened, but Alexander pretended not to see, and instead looked slightly away and down at his hands. “I wanted to punch that bastard for giving you so much pain for nothing, but you know what happens when you take on your superiors…” 

Alexander heard some shuffling and looked up to see the boy finally facing him. “Yeah, I do. Th’chair’s not fun.” Alexander reached out, slowly, and cradled the boy’s face. “Does it still hurt? Let me see.” The boy met his gaze, and Alexander noted the fear and confusion in his eyes. “Everything… everything hurts. But ‘sall different. Not in the old way, where one thing would hurt if I do something wrong to it. Now it’s like I’ve been running all day and everything’s on fire, all my muscles, all my bones.” The boy bit his lip, embarrassed at his admission.

"Thank you for telling me. I’m sorry that it’s so painful." The boy looked relieved that he wasn’t going to be punished for admitting pain. "But you’re stronger." The kid nodded, not seeing how that helps with the pain. Alexander grabbed him firmly by the shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Listen, I know you’re a fighter. That’s why I believe in you. That’s why I fought to get you the serum. Do you know my name? My name’s Alexander — it means ‘defender of men.’ I’m here to defend you." The boy looked away. "Why would you want to defend *me*?"

"They’ve never given you a name, have they?" The boy shook his head. "Can I give you one?" The boy shrugged. "How about Eugene? It means good birth." The boy laughed at the joke — he knew his was not a good birth. "I’m serious. It feels like pain right now, but the serum has given you a new life. And you can *choose* to make it good. You can choose to find strength through the pain."

"Order through pain," the boy muttered. And then, testing the name on his tongue, "Eugene…"

"I just want the best for you, Eugene." Alexander carefully pulled the boy into a hug, and then whispered conspiratorially, because he knows the rooms are bugged. "Trust me, and we can show that Zola who’s boss."

The boy tightened his arms around him and whispered. “I’m sorry for being angry at you.” That apology, Alexander remembered.

([karaii's original img post and notes](http://karaii.tumblr.com/post/96856855030/t-tiny-hydra-steve-clone-kicking-so-much-ass))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the one with implied body mutilation.

([karaii's original image post and notes](http://karaii.tumblr.com/post/96880969335/hydra-steve-clone-and-the-winter-soldier-in-the))

The boy made sure everyone knew his name and called him Eugene, but Alexander knew that behind his back the others called him “Pierce’s Hound.” Alexander found it … gratifying.

And the boy was indeed Alexander’s loyal hound.

With the boy calming and guiding the Winter Soldier, Alexander made the previously defunct program the most successful HYDRA initiative of the last 50 years. It helped that Alexander always picked the right targets, knew the right people to push.

After Zola, with some encouragement from Alexander, decided to upload himself into a computer and could be easily turned off, Alexander came home to find a fiercely joyful Eugene. By then he was taller, his bones less fragile. He let Eugene hug him and they shared a glass of milk. Then he talked to Eugene about spine modifications. “Now that you’ve gone through your growth spurt, we need to fix that scoliosis. It’ll be more pain, but then we’d be unstoppable.” The boy nodded eagerly, and Alexander smiled and tousled the boy’s hair. [karaii’s img here]

And they *were* unstoppable. A few more key ‘accidents’ amongst the HYDRA leadership, Alexander found himself the Director of HYDRA. His hound had surgical scars down his back that refused to heal properly, but he still stood proudly outside the conference room whenever Alexander held a HYDRA meeting.

A few years later came the flubbed Reagan assassination.

That night, after all the hubbub, where Alexander had to look distressed for the wrong reason and comfort far too many Senators, he came home to find the boy waiting for him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Pierce.” The boy threw himself by Alexander’s feet, but Alexander just ignored him and poured himself a glass of milk. The boy blubbered from the middle of the entryway, “I don’t know what happened. He… he was fine one second, but then … it must have been something I said….” The boy was near tears. It made Alexander feel better. He sat down in the darkened living room and drank his milk.

The boy crawled over to where Alexander was sitting. At 23, the boy at his full height was now taller than Alexander and finely muscled — the serum was finally taking visible effect — but on his knees, he still reminded Alexander of the frail 9-year-old boy who hugged him and apologized. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen, ever again.”

"Eugene, it wasn’t your fault." Alexander sighed, then waited for the rebuttal.

"Yes it was. I said something. Or something in my voice, the way I said it…" The boy paused, thoughtful. "I should learn more about the original handler. Then I’d know what not to say."

"It’s no use." Alexander dismissed the notion — no sense letting the boy learn about the real Steve Rogers. There must be another way. "The Winter Soldier has always been unstable. We’ll never know what it is about your voice triggered him." Alexander reached over and tousled the boy’s hair and smiled. "It’s okay, I know you tried your best."

"No, I can do better." The boy looked determined. "Let’s remove my vocal cords. That way I won’t accidentally trigger him any more."

Alexander was surprised — he didn’t think the boy would just offer it up so easily. “But that would be painful… and permanent…” He demurred, trying to think through all the possible utility his hound might lose if he is silenced. Would there be missions he wouldn’t be able to perform?

The boy reached out and grabbed Alexander’s hand. “It’s okay, Alexander.” He smiled. “You’ve defended me for so long, let me do what I can. Order through pain, remember?”

Alexander smiled and pet his hound. “Thank you, Eugene.” Without his voice, the boy would be even more bound to him. Besides, he’d always wanted to learn sign language.

([karaii's original image post and notes](http://karaii.tumblr.com/post/97019629765/time-to-go-soldier-so-anyone-whos-known-me))


	5. Chapter 5

([karaii's original img post](http://karaii.tumblr.com/post/96431986605/what-if))

Alexander hated Steve Rogers. 

Steve Rogers’ presence forced him to keep his hound and the Soldier overseas and further underground— Dopplegangers were far easier to detect when the real one was around.

And Steve Rogers was so … stubborn. The sullen way he completed perfectly above-board SHIELD assignments. The way he questioned and judged *everything* with his gaze. The way he spent his life in completely pointless activities like visiting old friends. The way he never looked at Alexander with adoration. 

Alexander missed his hound.

More than once Alexander found himself wishing that he could just remove Steve Rogers and replace him with the hound. The elimination would be easy enough — the Winter Soldier has had 100% success since Reagan, and the serum had finally taken full effect and the boy was a spitting image of Steve Rogers. Well, except for the surgical scars along his spine and his inability to speak. If Alexander knew that Steve Rogers was still alive he would never have silenced the hound. And to kill Captain America outright without a replacement was too risky.

It was Steve Rogers who forced his hand with Project Insight. Rumlow was just not as effective an operative as his hound — couldn’t even subdue Captain America with 20 people back-up in an elevator. Even the Soldier didn’t work as well without the hound to guide him and placate him, but the hound had to stay overseas and out of sight.

It was Steve Rogers and his idiotic speech that roused the remnants of SHIELD and put the whole of HYDRA on the defensive. He knew Nick Fury would never have done something impractical as try to destroy HYDRA by taking SHIELD down with it. The whole endeavor had Steve Rogers written all over it.

If his hound were there he would have taken down the Black Widow. If his hound were there he would have given his life to protect Alexander. But his hound was instead overseas on a petty assignment threatening the Chinese ambassador’s family. Because of Steve Rogers.

At least he knew that his hound loved him. At least he knew that his hound would avenge him.


	6. Bonus Epilogue comic

(this art looks different because it's by potofsoup and not karaii)

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr](http://potofsoup.tumblr.com) 
> 
> [original tumblr posts](http://potofsoup.tumblr.com/tagged/hydra%20steve%20party/chrono)


End file.
